More injury heartbreak for Paula Badosa, withdraws from Madrid Open mere hours before opener

Paula Badosa will not be playing the Madrid Open this year after announcing a sudden withdrawal on Friday morning mere hours before she is due to take to the court.

Albeit it perhaps is not a huge surprise as Badosa who has been going so well and was the WTA Comeback Player of the Year last year suffered a recurrence of her back injury. This happened at the start of March when she faced Daria Saville at the Merida Open Akron in Mexico.

She promptly didn't play Indian Wells in the week that followed and tried soldiering on to play Miami. She defeated rising Canadian, Victoria Mboko and also Clara Tauson in three and two sets respectively.

But she then handed Alexandra Eala a walkover and hasn't played in any tournaments since. It is such a shame for the Spaniard who seemed to be over an injury which looked to derail her career.

But has now come around again. While she may be towards returning, it could be that she is trying to air precaution ahead of Rome and Roland Garros but in similar vein to Carlos Alcaraz, the warning signs are there when she is not playing her home tournament. It is also another blow for the organisers who are now down to just Alejandro Davidovich Fokina really in terms of Spanish star power.

"Hey everyone, I wanted to let you know that unfortunately I won't be able to play Mutua Madrid Open. I've tried to do everything possible until the last moment because you know how excited I am to play at home. But it's been a complicated injury. I hope to be 100% soon. Big hug, Paula," she wrote on Instagram.

Badosa has withdrawn a mere hour before she was meant to take to the court at Manolo Santana with Veronika Kudermetova her slated opponent on Friday. It is likely now that she gets a bye unless a lucky loser is implemented.